월요일, 2월 16, 2004
on this day dawns a whole new week, one that i hope will hold better tidings than the weekend that has just passed. i ate an orange today, to which i had to spit out two seeds. this, in view of the fact that there are an average of 10 seeds in each orange, is marginally better than usual, so this week has gotten off to the right footing. apparently, the average person makes 369 friends in his lifetime (we're talking friends friends, not acquaintances), yet loses 334 of them throughout that same period. strange life eh? i wonder who the 35 friends of mine will be by the time i get ready to quit this mortal coil. it's strange, but when you do sit down and think about it, there is a certain pattern to life, and making friends is one of them, but keeping them never really seems to be on the agenda in the books of many. it's always much much harder to keep friends, so that might explain why your average joe tends to make, and break so many friendships.

i myself marvel at the manner in which i treat my friends sometimes. of course, you try to be a good friend most of the time and do what you can, but still. for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so am i human. thinking back on the recent months that i've spent here, i really am glad that i have found true friends who will stick by whenever i need them. in the words of ashton kutcher, my friends "...have gotten the bad end of the deal; i got them but they only have me." how true, methinks, when it comes to the bottom of things. they've been there to support, guide, counsel, listen, and basically do everything together with me, and there's no way i can even begin to thank them enough. always having someone around to be with you and let you feel at ease knowing that you are not alone sometimes is the most comforting thing in the world, despite the fact that we are indeed, so often alone.

yesterday i got down on my knees and thanked God for all my friends, every single one of them, for being the pillars that hold my world up. at home you count on family, but when you're out there facing the world, the only people you have around you are friends. no man is an island and how true that statement is, knowing that man, being an animal that relies on communication is incapable of living in solitude, hence the need for society, for community, for friends. through them i have learnt just how to do things, and seen facets of life that i otherwise would never have seen. i appreciate every one of them, even if we've drifted apart, or if rifts have grown between us, because every single one of them has taught me something that i will find invaluable in my own life sooner or later, and when i do make use of that lesson, i will sit back and think of you, because you have played a part in making me who i am today. for that, i thank you, and all those who come after you, for making my world complete.